Dow suffers biggest point drop in history, falling nearly 778 points in reaction to House vote rejecting economic rescue.

Amidst all of this, somehow I forgot to check my 401k in the past couple of months.

What a shock I was in for. Normally I hover between -3 to -6% down.

Today? -20%

I'm a little nauseated. :cool2:

I don't see the point in looking. I'm not retiring for another 15-20 years. The market could go up and down 5x between now and then.

I'm not looking either . . . because what difference does it really make. I would never make major changes during a downturn . . . and what goes down will eventually go back up again.

History shows that if time is on your side and you are diversified, you can't help but win in the end. :0)

Some guy at work was saying he was going to take all his money out of this 401k today. I tried to convince him that buying mutual funds at the height of the market and selling them at the low was dumb, especially when he's got at least 25 years before he can take the money out without penalty, but he would not listen.

Some guy at work was saying he was going to take all his money out of this 401k today. I tried to convince him that buying mutual funds at the height of the market and selling them at the low was dumb, especially when he's got at least 25 years before he can take the money out without penalty, but he would not listen.

It's that type of behavior that's going to deal the final death blow to the market.

It's that type of behavior that's going to deal the final death blow to the market.

No kidding. I'm actually racking my brain trying to figure out how/where I can find some extra cash to put IN the market now. I even briefly toyed with the idea of getting a 1-year 0% credit card to come up with the funds to invest but decided that was just a little too foolish.

The people I really feel for are those like my mother who just retired this year and is dealing with the fact that for every dollar she pulls out now it was worth around 1.40 at the beginning of the year. She has no choice but to take money out to pay her bills and there is no way she will get that money back when the economy eventually recovers.

She realizes it will eventually rebound and is trying her best to take out as little as possible now but is rebelling against the though she ought to see if she could temporarily come out of retirement. But it may come to that.

Down 40% today.............................

Laura, you gotta quit torturing yourself and us too! Every time I see this post, it reminds me my money is disappearing.:smile:

Yeah, ITA. You have DECADES for it to come back in spades. If you think you have it in the right mixes, then stop checking it.

Laura, you gotta quit torturing yourself and us too! Every time I see this post, it reminds me my money is disappearing.:smile:

i was thinking the same thing / when this post comes up. i'm not checking my fidelity 401acct, but i have checked some of our stocks - which was probably an even worse glance...

So all of those that are young (recognizing it is a relative term)...stop looking! You have years for the economy to improve, and your investments to stabilize and prosper. You are torturing yourself!

Those of you who are less young (such as myself living on the other side of life's equator [50]) - stop looking! It doesn't matter what is WAS worth; we are living in the 'what it IS worth' time, and it is painful. Very sad, and painful.

So all of those that are young (recognizing it is a relative term)...stop looking! You have years for the economy to improve, and your investments to stabilize and prosper. You are torturing yourself!

Those of you who are less young (such as myself living on the other side of life's equator [50]) - stop looking! It doesn't matter what is WAS worth; we are living in the 'what it IS worth' time, and it is painful. Very sad, and painful.

Good advice, Tap. I inherited a whack of cash which allowed me to retire early but I have not once phoned my money handlers in order to find out what the current bad news is. I can't change what is happening and that is why I am avoiding knowing more about my personal situation. It is a good thing, I guess, that my mate is 9 years younger than me; there is quite a few years of working life left in the kid! And that is my new retirement plan. lol

Unless he throws you over for another heiress who hasn't lost her money! Just teasing....:biggrin: